Prototype 021
by Zarosguth
Summary: He was made to be a weapon. He was made to destroy. He was made to kill, maim and murder. Fortunately he was found before he could be put to use, but does something like him even have a future?
1. Existence

_**Story Title:  
**_Prototype #021

_**Genres/'Tags':  
**_Tragedy / Drama / Angst / Violence / Action / Hurt & Comfort / Friendship / Romance

_**Summary:**_  
He was made to be a weapon. He was made to destroy. He was made to kill, maim and murder. Fortunately he was found before he could be put to use, but does something like him even have a future?

_**Foreword:  
**_Greetings ladies and gentlemen,

My name is Zarosguth and I thank you for taking your time to come here in order to read this story. I hope you will like it.

This marks the third time I have a go at creating a sad story. At least the first chapter will be sad. After that, things will go down a happier path. Though where that path leads is still unknown. Even to me.

I'd like to thank Jetstream Girge for Beta-reading this chapter for me. Thank you.

For now, we are beginning a new adventure. I will see you again in the afterword below.

_**Disclaimer:  
**_I do not own Elsword. Elsword and all related trademarks are owned by KoG Studios.

* * *

***~-[**** Chapter 1: Existence ****]-~***

* * *

_Does all life have to be born? Evolved? Created? Or will it just have to wake up to realize its own existence?_

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I wake up and find myself floating in some sort of liquid in a type of capsule. A mask supplying me with air sits over my face. I find that a pair of golden yellow eyes is staring at me. The pair of eyes is part of a feminine face. The face has pale skin with thin blue lines below the yellow eyes and in the middle of the forehead a bright, light blue gem is situated. Finally I notice the silver locks of hair on top of the head, flowing down like smooth silk.

The face turns away from me and speaks to someone I can't see off to the side. The sound does not manage to travel into my glass prison.

Then, everything goes black.

I wake up again. This time**,** I find myself in a small room, bound to a table. A man wearing a long white coat and a mask covering the lower half of his face is standing to my right and is leaning over me. Behind him I see lights as a single, big lamp illuminates the room. Once he notices I am awake he gives a signal someone standing on the other side of me.

Before I can look over to my left I hear a loud sound and before I can deduce what it is I feel a blade of sorts digging into the flesh just below my left shoulder. Because of the excruciating pain I am experiencing I scream. The screaming hurts my throat but that pain is nothing compared to the pain in my shoulder as the blade digs deeper and deeper. Blood splatters on the floor. Eventually I hear a thud. Something just fell on the floor and I am quite sure I know what.

The pain has become too much and once again darkness embraces me, taking away my conscious state of mind.

When I regain my senses I find myself sitting against the wall of a different small room. A throbbing and stinging pain is felt in my left shoulder. I am afraid to look but then I notice I can feel a left arm being present. _But how_? Is my question. I swallow my fear and look to my left and down. What I see shocks me even more than the lack of an arm would have. A metal arm that looks like cables and wires encased in steel shackles sits where my once normal arm was. At the end of the arm an intimidating metal claw is present.

The sight makes me want to scream but I can't; a lump in my throat is preventing my voice from coming out. I try to swallow it but to no avail. I am scared. I am scared because I don't know what is going on, scared because of the foreign limb that is attached to my body.I try to move the arm and to my surprise it responds to my commands. I bendthe arm around and clench my fist. I open my claw again and move each razor sharp finger separately. It doesn't feel weird. In fact, it almost feels natural which frightens me even more.

I look around the room I am in. The walls are grey and bare; the only thing breaking up the monotony is a strong-looking steel door directly opposite of where I am sitting. There is nothing in the room except for me. I look at myself as best I can. I notice I am only wearing a tattered pair of black leather jeans. I run my right hand over my head and feel the spiky hair on top of it. I tug on one of the spikes in an attempt to bring it before my eyes so I can see what colour it is. Alas, the hair is too short.

I look at my bare chest and feet. My skin has a slight tan but otherwise nothing really jumps out as unique. My body looks like the body of a healthy young man in his twenties but as I try to stand up I am unable to. I feelso incredibly weak. I want to cry but no tears will come. I stare at the ceiling and notice a single light bulb hanging there, being the only source of light as the walls and door allow no light to pass through.

Time passes. How much? I do not know. Since the only light I see is the artificial light from the light bulb I cannot determine what time it is. I spend most of my time sleeping and when I am awake I try to stand. A few times I manage to get up on my knees but as soon as I try to support myself with my feet I fall back down, cursing at my own weakness before I am taken by sleep again.

***~-[ X ]-~***

The loud sound of steel being forced to move pulls me from my dreamless sleep. I slowly open my eyes and see the steel door before me has opened. The clicking of heels can be heard as a female figure walks into the room. My vision is still blurry but I recognize the colour of her hair; it is silver.

She walks up to me and waves a hand back at the door, beckoning someone to come over. Two men walk over from the open door and lift me off the floor, supporting me on their shoulders. The woman leads and the men follow as they carry me. We go through long white corridors with more steel doors. The lights in the hallways are bright and blinding.

Eventually we reach our destination. The woman holds her face in front of a panel on the wall next to a door. "_Identity confirmed._" A robotic voice says and the door opens. We enter a large room with a large plastic or glass cage-like construction in the middle surrounded by what look like control panels.

The woman walks up to the door of the cage and punches in a code on the panel next to the door, opening it. She makes a single hand gesture towards the door and the two men holding me carry me inside. They drop me on the floor and walk back out of the cage, closing the door behind them. I try to stand up and for the first time I manage to do so. I look out of the cage and observe the people sitting at the control panels. They're all wearing long white coats except for the one woman with the silver hair. She wears a black tight-fitting sleeveless top, a pair of long black fingerless gloves, a black miniskirt and long black boots with high heels.

The people I assume to be scientists look at me like I'm some sort of caged animal. I am unsure of what they want so I just stand there, unmoving.

One of the scientists is typing away on one of the control panels like mad, the constant tapping sound resembling a rhythmic drumbeat. When he stops his typing he gives the woman, who seems to be the boss a thumbs-up.

"Prepare for testing!" The woman commands in a stern voice. At her command a different scientist presses a few buttons. I hear a sound coming from within the cage I am in. Floor panels slide open as three figures appear from the holes in the ground. I stare in awe at the three intimidating figures.

They appear to be robots of some kind and look very dangerous. Guns are mounted on their shoulders and they have hammer-like hands. I gulp unconsciously.

"Start!" The silver-haired woman commands, and as soon as the word left her mouth the robots aims their shoulder-guns at me and fire. Somehow I manage to dodge, my body moving on its own. I don't understand as I hadn't realized I was capable of doing something like this. I dodge all of the bullets fired at me and while I continue to evade the continuous barrage of bullets I move closer to the robotic monstrosities. Without thinking I instinctively leap at one of the robots and grab the shoulder-mounted gun with my claw. I swing my body around, causing the robot to aim at one of its comrades. As it continues to fire it obliterates the other robot. Next I rip the gun off the robot's shoulder and throw it away. It swings its hammer hand at me but I jump away, making the robot hit itself. Two down… one to go**.** The final robot charges at me, holding its hammer-shaped hand aloft in order to crush me where I stand. I dash forward as well and set the palm of my claw on the robot's body. An explosion bursts forth from my claw, ripping through the robot and tearing it in half.

I breathe heavily as I have gotten tired from suddenly exerting my body and I fall to my knees. My upper body falls forward but I catch myself with my arms, leaving me on all fours. I look over to the people outside the cage and see how most of them seem to have pleased expressions on their faces.

"This one is the fastest yet! Look at this time!" One exclaims excitedly as he stares at a screen on the control panel.

"Not to mention that raw power. That was the strongest release of energy we've seen so far!" Another almost yells.

The scientists smile amongst themselves before turning to the woman dressed in black. Their faces betray the fact they seem to look for her approval. The woman has her eyes closed as if deep in thought. After a few seconds she opens them and gives a small nod. "This one has potential." She says, her voice doesn't have any emotion to it but the scientists seem very happy with her statement.

"Bring him back to his room." She says as she waves her hand in my direction and leaves the big room we're in. The two men that brought me in here enter the cage. They walk up to me and one of them jams a syringe into my neck. I groan as my vision and my consciousness fade away while I feel the sensation of being lifted up.

***~-[ X ]-~***

I find myself back in the featureless room. There's a stinging pain in my neck and I feel very tired. I am once again unable to stand. Once again time loses all of its meaning as I fall into a pattern of sleeping and trying to stand up when I'm awake.

The door to my room opens and before I can see who it is, a bowl filled with an unknown thick broth-like substance is slid my way and a deep male voice tauntingly tells me it is feeding time.

I stare at the bowl for a few moments and eventually pick it up. I bring it to my face and drink the contents. The 'soup' is bland and tasteless but it helps to restore some of my lost energy as it appears to be quite rich in nutrients.

With my stomach filled and some of my energy restored I once again try to stand, this time with success. As I stand in my small room I start thinking back to the test that happened earlier today. Or**,** at least I think it was earlier today; my sense of time seems to have left me completely so I can't be sure.

But that test, it seemed like a test of my abilities. The weird thing is that I never even knew that I had these abilities. Suddenly realization hits me in the face like an open hand flying at my cheek at Mach one speed. How could I even know about these abilities if I don't know _who_ or _what_ I am? All I can remember is waking up for the first time in that capsule but before that… nothing.

My heart starts beating faster as I start to panic. Amnesia? I lost my memory? It's the only explanation! _Right?_ Then, do these people that are holding me here know who I am? What do they want with me anyway? As these questions and more pop up in my head, my state of panic increases. The world seems to spin around me and the strength I had just regained is leaving me. I sink back on the floor and sit down, leaning against the wall with my back. The world continues to spin and I hear ringing in my ears. Cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. My entire body goes numb as my consciousness slips away from me.

***~-[ X ]-~***

When I wake up I find I can't move. However**,** this time it's different. Rather than my physical strength failing me I notice that I am bound to a table with shackles. I shake my arms, rattling the shackles, trying to break free but am unsuccessful.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. They're to prevent you from hurting yourself." A calm feminine voice speaks to me. I turn my head in the direction of the sound and see the same silver-haired woman again. I stare at her in disbelief. I want to ask her so many questions but no words leave my mouth. I am unable to mutter even a single syllable. That is when I finally realize that I have an oxygen mask stuck to my face. She smiles at me, but it is not a gentle smile or a caring smile. Something about her smile makes it look positively _evil_. She snaps her fingers and three men walk in; dressed similarly to the man I saw when my arm was…

In a reflex to the unhappy memory my left hand clenches into a fist. The three men walk over to my left arm and remove some of the shackle-like metal plates around it, exposing the wiring in the process. One of the men hands another a few tools while the third sticks his fingers into my arm into the bundles of wiring, pulling a few wires aside to make space for… _something_. A jolt of pain travels through my arm into my shoulder as he yanks on the wires. I groan in pain but am ignored. The men use their tools to alter the configuration of wires in my arm and eventually they take a component unlike anything I have seen so far and wedge it into my arm. The pain worsens abut I cannot scream because of the oxygen mask. When the new component is finally in place the three men remove the rest of the outer plating from my arm, leaving only the bare minimum, mainly my knife-like fingers and the plates that form the palm of my hand.

A table with new plating rolls in and the men attach these new plates. Black plates that look less like shackles and make my arm look more intimidating. From small holes and indents on the arm orange and red lights glow. My arm looks like it could catch fire at any moment and I don't mean in the sense that it looks poorly made and ready to malfunction. No, it's more like it would shoot fireballs and have even more powerful explosions burst from the palm of the claw than it did when I fought those three robots.

I stare at the arm dumbfounded and can only imagine the look on my face. I feel my eyes are wide open. The silver-haired, black-clothed woman walks up to me after the men stepped away. She gently strokes the arm and as soon as her fingers touch it I start struggling again in another attempt to break free. I mumble through the oxygen masked in a panicked fashion. "_I don't want you to touch me!_" I scream in my mind. It's as if her touch is venomous and could kill me. The longer she keeps her fingers in contact with my arm the more I struggle.

She finally breaks the contact between her fingers and my arm. She brings her hand to her face and laughs in the palm of her hand. "You're turning out quite well. I'm looking forward to the next evaluation." She says before she makes a short motion with her head towards the door to signal I should be brought away. One of the people that had just worked on my arm pulls out a syringe and sticks it into my neck.

Darkness soon follows.

***~-[ X ]-~***

I am back in my room; I just woke up and am not feeling too bad. My arm no longer hurts. I am observing it closely, taking in its new appearance. It definitely looks more powerful. But it also looks more evil. I don't know what it can do yet but it feels warmer than before. Maybe it's just my imagination though. I suppose I'll have to wait until the next 'evaluation' as the silver-haired woman put it. My neck itches so I try to scratch. That is when I notice something is actually around my neck. A collar? Why am I wearing a collar? I see there's even a tag attached to it. I take hold of the tag and try to read what is on it. To my disappointment it turns out to be nothing but a number. "021." I read out loud. The sound of my own voice startles me as it breaks the absolute silence I am in. I decide it's better for me not to speak.

It could have been minutes, hours, days or even weeks before the door finally opens once more. From the opening the woman and the two men that had brought me to my first test walk in. As soon as I see her face it becomes red before my eyes. "You!" I snarl.

"Me?" She answers mockingly. I can no longer control myself as I get up and ready myself to dash at her with my claw stretched out. But right before I can hit her, an electric shock courses through my body, forcing me to the ground. My body spasms uncontrollably under the electric shocks that keep coming.

"Now, now. You better behave or we have to punish you like this." She taunts me. I manage to look up at her and see that she pouts at me which only serves to aggravate me even more. There is nothing I can do however as my body doesn't respond due to the electricity running through me. I feel my spine contorting into shapes I didn't even know spines could bend. "_Is my spine going to break?_" I ask myself in my mind. Relief washes over me as the shocks finally stop, but I am not able to move.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to postpone your next evaluation. Instead, we're going to do something else today." the woman tells me as the two men pick me up. Afraid I'll get shocked again I don't resist.

I am brought to a small dark room. Being held in the door opening the first thing I notice are the chains with cuffs hanging from the ceiling.

I fear the worst as I am left hanging from the ceiling by my wrists. In the meantime the silver-haired woman has stepped behind me. Unsure as to why, I instinctively brace myself. Then I hear it, a cracking sound followed by a burning and stinging pain on my back. This happens again. The cracking, followed by the pain repeats itself over and over. I try not to scream but the pain is too much. Crack, scream, crack, scream, crack, scream. I truly fear it'll never stop.

Then, it stops. The woman walks past me without even looking back at me. She exits the room**;** the two men unchain me and bring me back to my room where I black out.

When I wake up the first thing I feel is the burning pain on my back. I groan. All I know is that I do not want to experience that ever again.

I don't know how long it takes before the silver-haired woman comes to my room again. This time I just stare at her and don't move.

"Stand!" she commands. I obey and stand up slowly and carefully; I don't want to do anything that might anger her.

"Follow." she says next as she walks out the door. I do as I'm told. It's my first time walking through the hallways and corridors myself. I keep my eyes focused on the woman I'm following while the two men walk behind me.

We arrive at the room I was tested in for the first time. I see the transparent cage and remember my fight against the robots.

"Enter!" I am pulled back to the present and see the door to the cage is open and the woman in black is standing next to it. I hesitantly enter the cage. I suppose they want to see what my redesigned arm is capable of.

My suspicions are confirmed when another three robots are set up to fight me. They are a different model from before though. Rather than shoulder-mounted guns and hammer hands they have blade arms and look very agile.

"Start!" The silver-haired woman commands and immediately one of the robots lunges at me. In a reflex I block his blade with my claw and break it without too much effort. I follow the breaking of the blade with a quick punch right through the robot's body, destroying it instantly. The other two now also dash at me. I manage to just evade one of their blades but another swing from one of the robots hits me horizontally across the chest. I'm lucky that the cut isn't deep but the pain is horrible. I distance myself from the robots and suddenly it's as if I completely understand what my arm can do now. I point the palm of my claw at one of the robots from a distance and a burning bullet shoots from it. The robot doesn't seem to have calculated for this and the bullet connects, exploding and taking out the second robot. There is just one robot left and I fire another bullet but it seems the robot has learned from watching what just happened to its comrade as it easily evades and closes the distance between us. It swings its blades at my face. I narrowly dodge, grazing the blade and receiving only a very superficial wound on my cheek. I thrust my claw at the robot and grab it. I feel heat building up in my arm as I let continuous explosions burst from my palm. The damage piles up quickly and the robot is destroyed but my arm has caught fire now. The hot flames hurt but I endure as my arm quickly cools down and the flames dissipate.

As I stand there breathing heavily, the scientists excitedly talk amongst themselves again.

"The redesigned arm has even more fire-power than predicted!"

"I just wonder about the arm overheating though. That might become a problem during long term use."

"That's something we should look at indeed, but for now I would call this a great success!"

I glance over to the silver-haired woman and see she has another one of her devilish smiles on her face. It seems like she's happy with my results as well. This worries me greatly.

***~-[ X ]-~***

I was thrown back into my room. I sit in the empty room with nothing but my thoughts to occupy me. I think about various things. My fighting skill; where did it come from? Was I a warrior before I got here? Which leads me to the next thing; who am I? Finally the question that I fear the most; what is going to happen to me? I stare down at my chest where one of the robots managed to slash me; the bleeding stopped but there is blood all over my chest. I also have blood stains on my face and my hair is a dirty mess due to the sweating I've done. I see the black strands as they slightly fall over my face.

Wait! Black strands of hair, my hair is black? My hair is black! It seems to be the case that my hair has grown long enough for me to be able to see it. I am not quite sure why but finding out my hair colour fills me with joy. Even if it is a very minuscule detail, I know more about myself.

The happiness is short-lived however and soon I enter a pattern of sleeping followed by spending my moments being awake pondering the questions that plague my mind.

The opening of the steel door wakes me up. I expect the silver-haired woman, that _damn_ evil woman, to enter but she doesn't. Instead it is a man wearing a long white coat; another scientist. He is followed by the two men that normally accompany the silver-haired woman to drag me to wherever the hell next.

"Stand up!" The scientist barks at me. His tone is very different from the silver-haired woman; much less refined and with a small hint of fear. "We're going to clean you up a bit!"

I do as he says and he and the two other men lead me to a room where a hose is stuck to the wall. "Undress!" The scientist barks at me again. I take my pants, the only clothes I have, off. Then the hose is taken from the wall and pointed at me. Cold water shoots from the hose and hits my body at high velocity. The force with which the water hits my bare skin hurts. The bloodstains soon disappear from my body. Even though the water hit me with incredible force I managed to stay standing.

"Put your pants back on!" I quietly put my pants back on while the cold water is dripping from my skin. I glare at the scientist but decide it is better not to attack as I am still wearing that collar and might get shocked if I try anything. If I were to get hit with electricity while wet like this**,** I would die for sure.

Back in my room I wait for my body to dry. The cold water is causing me to shiver uncontrollably and my teeth are chattering like crazy. I am so cold**,** I cannot sleep and my mind wanders back to the many questions I have but do not expect to receive an answer for.

***~-[ X ]-~***

Time passes and they seem to have a schedule for me, which goes as follows:

I am taken from my room by the silver-haired woman and brought to the room with the transparent cage. I learn this room is called the 'training room'.

After that I am brought back to my room where I wait until they bring me to the washing room where I get washed.

Then, it is my room again where I wait. It is then that I get my food**:** The same tasteless broth every time.

From there, the cycle repeats.

While it is by no means a happy existence, I am glad to finally have something to hold on to. Now I at least know what is in store for me. I still don't know anything more about myself or the people that are holding me or what they're planning to do with me.

Eventually I stop caring.

One day I am too tired to stand up when the silver-haired woman comes to get me to go to the training room.

"It seems we should teach you a thing or two about discipline." She says before I am brought to the room with the chains hanging from the ceiling. As it turns out, if I don't come to the training room for the tests and evaluations and training, I will get punished in that room.

As I dangle from the ceiling the woman stands in front of me. I can barely make her out due to my blurry vision but can see she's holding some sort of rope with a handle. "I didn't show this to you last time did I? I must've been quite angry back then. Do you know what this is?" I stare her in the eye as best I can and shake my head in denial.

"Oh, but you do. _Believe_ me." The way she puts emphasis on the word 'believe' makes shivers run down my spine. She steps out of my sight again. My eyes open wide as I hear a familiar cracking sound. I brace myself and as I expected, a burning, stinging pain is felt on my back.

***~-[ X ]-~***

I am tired; another training session just ended and my arm feels hotter than usual, the fire also takes longer than usual to dissipate. The scientists seem to be worried about it as well.

"The overheating seems to have gotten worse."

"I agree. That's why I worked on a new design for the arm. But there is one problem though..."

"Which is?" the silver-haired woman interjects. The scientist glances at her nervously.

"T-t-the cost... The materials are quite expensive." The scientist mutters in response.

"If that is the only problem then my only question is: Why have you not gotten to work yet?!" The woman barks at the scientists.

I find myself strapped to the table where my arm first got remade. The woman clothed in black overlooks how a few scientists open my arm and stick their hands inside once more. They violently pull on something in my arm, which hurts. After some pulling and yanking they liberate some component from my arm. The resulting pain causes me to scream loudly. I see the component they pulled from my arm through the tears in my eyes and notice there's blood on it. I pant heavily as they rummage around in my arm some more. I close my eyes and wish for my consciousness to slip away so that my suffering ends, at for now. Fortunately, my wish is granted but not before I notice them attaching a number of wires and cables to my arm.

Back in my room I wake up. My first instinct is to look at my arm. It looks even more frightening than before. I notice the material the outer plating is made of looks more heat-resistant. There also appear to be vents integrated in the arm. They're closed right now but they're there for sure. The difference in looks is also very clear.

I sigh and stroke my normal hand through my hair. I feel my hair has grown significantly longer, which makes me wonder how long it's been since the upgrade. Not that it matters; as far as I'm concerned**,** time has no relevance. It hasn't had any for the longest time. I chuckle at the irony of that thought before I go back to sleep.

I am rudely woken by the door opening. The silver- haired woman makes her entrance and commands me to come. It must be time for another evaluation.

The robots are set up. I've fought many different varieties now so the robots before me are not unfamiliar. I know this particular type is very dodge-heavy and never stays still. As the test starts the robots start running around. I barely evade their barrage of melee attacks. It seems these ones have been upgraded to be even faster and more agile. They manage to get a few hits in but nothing too serious as far as damage goes. My best option would be a wide area attack to make it impossible for them to dodge. Maybe my new arm can help. I clench my claw tightly and suddenly my arm starts overheating, but the pain is far less than normal. I see the vents on my arm open, allowing more heat to escape. I open my claw and swing my arm from my right to my left side as a stream of fire shoes from the palm of my claw. A flamethrower? The flames engulf the entire area the robots are moving around in. The heat is too much for them and they break down. I stare at my arm as it's still on fire but without nearly any pain, flames are coming from the vents but it feels more controlled. My newly redesigned arm seems to allow me to control the overheating much better.

I glance over to the people outside the cage and see a wicked grin has appeared on the silver-haired woman's face. Her expression truly terrifies me.

"It is truly wonderful!" She laughs maniacally. "Gentlemen," she says, turning to the scientists, "today we have created a beautiful weapon! Can you hear me number 021?" She turns to me. "You are a truly wonderful weapon and you will have the honour of destroying my enemies!"

She continues to laugh as electricity from my collar shocks me, knocking me unconscious.

The schedule of training, washing and eating starts up again. One day, after a particularly brutal training session before washing time I sit in my room, too tired to move and with quite a few injuries. My exhaustion causes my senses to feel dull. Suddenly I hear an explosion on the other side of the door, which swings open and I am met with a pair of enchanting emerald-green eyes and flowing, greenish blonde hair.

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_**Afterword:  
**_This is the first time I have written an entire chapter in first person, (I wrote this before 'Rest Of Our Days') or that I've written a chapter this long for that matter. I like first person; it makes everything feel more personal. Second person is also really good at doing that but I don't feel confident enough to have a go at that yet.

In any case, did you like what you read so far? Or did you hate it? Whatever the case I would like to ask you to leave a review telling me what you think; I love getting feedback.

If you've noticed any errors in spelling or grammar please point those out as well so I can get rid of them.

***~-[**** May we meet again, fare thee well! ****]-~***


	2. Freedom

_**Story Title:  
**_Prototype #021

_**Genres/'Tags':  
**_Tragedy / Drama / Angst / Violence / Action / Hurt & Comfort / Friendship / Romance

_**Summary:**_  
He was made to be a weapon. He was made to destroy. He was made to kill, maim and murder. Fortunately he was found before he could be put to use, but does something like him even have a future?

_**Disclaimer:  
**_I do not own Elsword. Elsword and all related trademarks are owned by KoG Studios.

* * *

***~-[**** Chapter 2: Freedom ****]-~***

* * *

_Does all life deserve to live in freedom? Or is freedom a luxury only certain forms of life or certain individuals deserve? Can certain forms of life even enjoy freedom if it is given to them? And if freedom has to be given and can thus be taken away, can freedom even be considered to be something that exists?_

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. His long and messy black hair with that strange red streak running through it, his wounds and scars, the fear in those golden eyes, that arm; the man I rescued from that facility, what did those people do to him? What did they plan to do with him?

What is he?

When my superior showed me the partial files that another squad had recovered from the laboratory computers I was shocked. Human weapons, the man I rescued was the 21st prototype for this experiment known as 'Project Weapon Taker'.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

My name is Rena and I am an elite Night Watcher of the Night Savers. Our job is to protect the land against anything that may disturb the peace. We specialize in covert-ops and intelligence gathering as well as occasional raids and break-ins.

Our latest target was a facility we've had our eyes on for a while now; according to our Intel there were illegal experiments going on.

None of us expected what we found there though; combat training facilities as well as all manner of rooms that seemed to be intended fort things we did not even want to think about. Some of the rooms resembled torture chambers even.

The greatest shock came when I found that man with the metal arm; I could see the fear in his eyes as I approached him, speaking words of comfort as gently as I could. He was hurt badly and unable to move so I had to carry him. He tried to resist but he was so very weak.

And now here I am, sitting next to his bed in the hospital wing of the Night Savers HQ. He has an IV tube connected to his normal arm but he is no longer hooked to the other machinery that monitored his heart-rate and breathing when he was first brought in. He hasn't woken up yet since he was brought in here even though most of his wounds have healed. My superior wants me to talk to him once he wakes up so I'm just waiting and in the mean time I keep reading through the partial Weapon Taker files we recovered. I just cannot fathom how someone could do these kinds of things; create artificial human life to turn into a weapon. I wonder what happened to the other twenty prototypes that came before the person sleeping in front of me. We only found this one man, so I guess it's safe to assume the others are all dead. After all, creating artificial life sounds like a task that is by no means easy; mistakes are bound to be made.

That makes me think of something else; how about this man? How does his lifespan relate to that of normal people? The files indicate he was made about four years ago yet he looks like he's in his mid-twenties. Accelerated growth maybe, or was he made to resemble a man in his mid-twenties?

Maybe we'll find out more once our tech staff manages to decrypt some more files off the computers we recovered. Also, even if he was made artificially, his DNA has to come from somewhere; maybe if we can find the person he was made to resemble that can tell us something more about him as well. In any case, for now, my main priority is to wait for him to wake up.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

It feels like I am floating in a dark abyss. The darkness feels comforting and gentle. Where am I? The last thing I remember is a pair of emerald-green eyes. Whose are they? I remember how they looked upon me with concern. Not for their own life like the scientists would, but concern for my well-being. I don't know. All I know is that I want to see those eyes again.

As I make that decision; wanting to see those eyes again, the abyss around me starts to brighten and glow in a blinding green light.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

Next thing I know I find myself lying in a bed in a room I'm unfamiliar with. My vision is blurry but the image is quickly getting sharper.

Then I see those beautiful pools of green.

The eyes are part of a smiling female face with long blonde hair cascading down. From my position I can't even see how long her hair is exactly but it must reach at least down to her lower back.

"I'm so glad you're awake, how are you feeling?" her voice sounds like a choir of angels; so pure, kind and gentle, it is unlike anything I've ever heard before.

I try to speak but find myself unable to due to the pain in my throat. All I manage is a throaty groan.

"Ssh, don't strain yourself." The blonde woman says to me, "You should rest. Once your throat is better we can talk. There's no rush."

She stands up and turns to the door at the other end of the room.

_No! Don't leave!_ I shout in my mind, I swiftly stretch my hand out to her from under my sheets and grab her wrist.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I was about to walk out and let the, just awoken man rest when I felt cold metal clasping around my wrist. Now I find myself unsure of what to do; does he want me to stay? I suppose there's only one way to find out. I turn around making sure my movements are not too sudden; I don't know much about his mental state and he could act violent should he feel threatened.

I turn around and see he grabbed me with his metallic hand. I look at his arm for a second but he suddenly lets go but does keep his hand lingering near my arm. I look at his face and see something I didn't expect; embarrassment. For some reason his expression makes me smile.

"Something wrong?" I ask gently.

No response.

"Do you want me to stay? Is that it?" I take a guess.

This time I get a response in the form of a single, careful nod.

"I see," I smile, "I'll stay then." I take my seat next to the bed again and the two of us sit there in silence. I decide it's a good time to do some paperwork, luckily I brought my laptop with me. Every once in a while I notice eyes staring at me, every time I do I look over to the black-haired man and give him a warm smile before he looks away; it's kind of cute.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I don't know why but I can't keep my eyes off her; she's beautiful, her smile is so warm, unlike that evil smile that, that... _that_ woman always gave me whenever I 'performed within acceptable parameters', whatever that meant. I wonder, am I free now? Free from that silver-haired woman? Free from those experiments? I can't be sure, I'm being kept in the dark like always. If only my voice worked; I could ask what was going on, ask where I am.

I feel so sleepy but I don't want to go to sleep; what if this is all a dream? I don't want to wake up if that's the case, please don't let this be a dream.

I'm so tired; too tired, I can no longer fight it. I feel my consciousness slipping away.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I awake with a start and immediately memories of the blonde woman stream into my conscious mind. I look around and recognize the room as the one I was in before with the blonde woman, except she isn't there.

Suddenly the door opens and a man in a long white coat comes through; a scientist? I knew it was all too good to be true. But, I will no longer give in, I will resist even if it kills me!

I leap from the bed, ripping the IV from my normal arm and fire a shot from my mechanical arm at the scientist's feet; I don't want to harm him, I'm not the monster here, I won't let them have the pleasure of making me a monster.

"I heard a gunshot! What is going on here?!" I hear a familiar voice call right before I see that gentle blonde woman walk in. She quickly seems to analyse the situation and then looks at me; her gaze pierces right through me but it isn't anger or fear in those emerald eyes of hers, it's... understanding?

I don't get it, what is going on? I still don't understand where I am, I don't understand! I don't understand!

My legs give away and I fall to my knees, my arms fall limp besides my body and I feel tears are starting to flow down my face.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I just came back from getting a cup of coffee when I heard the gunshot. I dropped my coffee and ran into the room where I found the black- haired man threatening the doctor. Observing this scene I realized why the man had attacked; it had to be the doctor's coat, his past encounters with people in lab coats cannot have been good ones.

I was on edge; if the black- haired man attacked again then the doctor's safety would have my priority.

That was when he suddenly collapsed to his knees and started crying.

And here we are.

I quickly tell the doctor to get out; he's been standing there stunned this whole time. As soon as the doctor is gone I observe the crying man; his eyes reflect both fear as well as confusion. I don't blame him; we haven't explained anything to him yet.

As I look him in the eyes foot a few moments he casts his gaze to the floor; the sight breaks my heart.

I walk over to him carefully and kneel down beside him, staying quiet and try not to do anything that he might feel threatened by; he's obviously not stable. The silence in the room is only broken by his quiet sobbing.

I can't fight the urge to try and comfort him and I slowly inch closer to him and carefully wrap my arms around his shaking body, placing my head on his shoulder. I fight back tears of my own as I hold him and feel his body tensing.

"Please don't hurt me..." I hear a hoarse voice whisper. I am caught off guard by this; not only is it the first time he talks since I saved him but what he just said makes it clear to me they used fear and torture to make him do what they wanted him to and that disgusts me.

"Ssh, don't worry," I whisper, "nobody is going to hurt you; I promise." In response to my words I feel his body relaxing slightly. I keep holding him like this, whispering things like 'everything will be fine' or 'let it all out' for a while until his tears finally stop.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I finally have some understanding as to what's going on; the blonde woman, who is named Rena, is some sort of elite officer or soldier and she was part of a break-in into the facility I was held at. They had apparently received an anonymous tip that there were illegal experiments being done there and acted on it.

That's when she found me and I was brought here.

I nod as I take in the information she gave to me. I still have questions and I suppose now's the best time to ask.

"Do you have any idea who I am then?" I ask somewhat nervously since I do realize that it's a bit of a strange question.

Rena sighs. "We're not sure, we have found some files regarding the experiment you were part of but there was no mention of your name or anything like that."

"I see…" I'm quite disappointed; I still don't know much.

"Ah, but we're running your picture as well as a DNA sample through our systems, I'm sure we'll find _something_!" she quickly tells me with a smile.

I find myself smiling back; the way she says it makes it so I can't do anything other than to believe her; she's very persuasive I suppose.

"So, you don't have any memories of before you were trapped in that facility?" she asks me now.

I shake my head in denial, "No, I don't. The earliest memory I have is waking up in some sort of capsule facing a silver-haired woman."

I jump slightly as Rena suddenly lets out a gasp.

"D-d-did that woman have… golden eyes?"

I nod slowly, wondering how she knows that.

She mutters something I can't make out under her breath and I look at her questioningly.

She meets my eyes and repeats herself. "The Queen of Destruction, she is a wanted criminal whose real name is Eve. She's a cold-hearted woman who has been involved in many illegal weapon experiments, most of them having to do with biological weaponry." Rena explains.

"And… I was her newest experiment?"

"It does seem that way." Rena says in a regretful tone, avoiding eye-contact with me.

It is silent for a moment as I try to decide what to make of this revelation.

"Hey… Ugh, it's difficult to speak to someone when you don't have a name for them. Listen, even if the one that made you what you are now is someone like Eve, _you_ are the one now to decide what you will do. What I am trying to say is that while she may have given you a terrible power, you are the one to decide now how to use it. What I ask of you is… use it however you think is right."

I let Rena's words sink in and decide she's right; just because I wield this kind of destructive power doesn't mean I have to _be_ destructive or use it in a destructive manner.

"Thank you Rena," I smile, "you're absolutely right, I won't disappoint you."

"I'm sure you won't." Rena smiles back at me. I love her smile; it's so warm and gentle.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

That afternoon Rena has taken me to a balcony and we're sitting in the fresh air. Apparently the people that wear lab coats and work here are doctors who are only interested in making people better. I am grateful, not only because that means they won't hurt me but also that there are also people like that; people that help other people by healing them.

The balcony is situated on the same floor as my room which is on the third floor of this building which I have learned is the Night Savers HQ.

I look my eyes out at the outside world; the HQ is standing in the middle of a huge forest which seems a bit strange to me but I'm glad it is where it is as the trees and animals are very beautiful and very much fun to watch.

Rena explains to me what most of the animals are called and what their roles in the forest's ecosystem are. I don't understand all of it but I do get the impression nature is very amazing.

Suddenly my eyes fall on a black-feathered creature with wings and a long, hard-looking black mouth. I watch how it flies over the treetops. Rena just explained to me that a creature like that is called a bird and that there are many different species of bird that each have their own name. This one is particularly interesting.

"Rena, what is that bird called?" I ask as I point at it, "the black one."

"Hm? Oh, that's a raven." She answers.

"I see." I mumble as I continue to watch it as it goes about its business.

"I don't know why but I really like it." I say truthfully as I watch it take off to the skies and fly away. I let out a deep sigh I didn't even know I was holding once the raven disappears from view.

I feel Rena's hand suddenly rest on my shoulder and I look up at her; she is smiling that smile I love seeing and her eyes hold some sort of twinkle.

"I think I know something we can call you until we find out your true name." she says to me. My eyes widen as I wonder what she's thinking of.

"How about we call you 'Raven'? Well?"

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

I had a feeling he would like it and it seems I am right; his eyes widen so much it almost looks like they're going to drop out of their sockets.

"Can we really do that?" he asks me with a certain innocence a twenty-something should no longer be able to manage.

"Of course we can, Raven." The smile that follows next has to be the brightest smile I've ever seen in my life.

"Thank you Rena! Thank you so much!" Raven says to me before looking at his open hands. He closes his hands and his eyes and I can hear him whispering: "My name is Raven. I am Raven." He snickers softly and opens his eyes to look at me.

I stretch my arm out towards him and offer him my hand. He seems a bit confused at first but takes it, albeit carefully.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Rena." I say with a smile. Then, I see a smile appearing on Raven's face as well.

"Nice to meet you Rena, my name is Raven."

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

In the following months, while I am recovering from my injuries, I still have trouble trusting people in long white coats.

But as long as Rena is there I feel save.

The doctors also keep a look on my arm, telling me they want to make sure my arm isn't too much of a danger to both myself and the people around me. However, they seem quite pleased to find I have complete control over my arm. They also seem quite interested in the technology behind my arm, saying it could be a breakthrough in medical science for prosthetic limbs.

Rena and I have grown quite close in those months, forming a real friendship. She wasn't in the least bit surprised when I told her I wanted to join the Night Savers as well; as it turned out Rena herself had been saved by the Night Savers when she was a little girl herself and joined them because of that.

Unfortunately the higher-ups didn't seem too keen on letting me join but Rena vouched for me which eventually got them to change their mind; Rena was a very influential person it seemed. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't betray Rena's trust and as such did my very best to complete the training course and become an official Night Saver.

A lot of my instructors and teachers were very impressed by not only my raw strength given to me by my arm but also by my agility and my fast-thinking skills. Learning proper Night Saver protocol was a bit tougher as I seemed to have some sort of other military protocol embedded in my mind which I didn't quite understand where it came from but I eventually managed to get used to Night Saver protocol and made it into the ranks of the Night Savers.

It was then that Rena came bringing bad news: the search for Eve, that evil woman that made me into what I am now, had turned up nothing; it seemed she had disappeared off of the face of the planet and all we could do know was wait for her to turn up again.

Something else that Rena told me she had been keeping a secret from me was worse however.

She told me I had not been captured by Eve but rather, I had been _created_ by her as an artificial life form.

Needless to say, I was devastated. In an attempt to cheer me up Rena told me that even if that were true, I was a very real living creature that deserved to live just as much as everything else. The Night Savers were also checking my DNA in their databases, not to find out my real identity but to find out whose DNA I was based on.

So far, even after months and months they had been unsuccessful to find anything and recently they started looking into older and more obscure databases.

I don't know if I even want them to find anything. It's not about me anyway. But on the other hand, whatever they find could potentially tell us more about me and what Eve was planning to do with me other than having me be a personal weapon, she had to choose the DNA she worked with for a reason; Eve's the kind of woman to never do anything if there isn't a specific reason.

***~-[**** X ****]-~***

"Raven wait up!" Rena yells at me as she runs up to me in one of the hallways in the Night Saver HQ.

"Hey Rena, what's the big hurry? A mission?" I ask her as she stops in front of me, panting from her run. I wait for her to catch her breath.

"We found something!" she says to me with enthusiasm written all over her face. I raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"What do you mean? Found what?" I ask as I don't quite understand what she's talking about.

"We found the person whose DNA you share!"

* * *

_**Afterword:  
**_Well, it's been a while but here we are, chapter two of this story. Sorry it took so long, I ran into writer's block which made me rewrite this chapter, twice. Not to mention I also started writing Fan Fiction for Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha and then there's college of course.

Check out my MSLN Fan Fictions if you are interested. I promise they're not horrible. Who knows, if you've never heard of MSLN before that might also be something to look into. I can tell you I really like that anime/manga. (Not to mention the movies which are great in their own right.)

I honestly hope this chapter was worth the wait. I have no ETA regarding chapter three but I'll try not to take as long as I did for chapter two here.

Also, what do you think of the switching perspectives? Should I indicate each POV change in a different way from scene changes or are they obvious enough?

Finally I'd like to extend my thanks to Jetstream Girge for beta-reading this chapter for me. Thanks Sam.

Well then, with that I would like to ask you to leave me a review telling me what you think of the story so far; I love getting feedback and please, don't be afraid to be critical.

***~-[**** May we meet again, fare thee well! ****]-~***


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